Abney Park Cemetery

Ok, I am back!
I've been reading this book about habits (very informative and interesting, highly recommend it) and one interesting fact it mentions is that we change our habits when major life events occur. The bigger the change or event (such as a new baby or getting married) the more changes we are likely to make. I started this blog partially as a way to develop a habit of drawing everyday (or almost every day, I do have a 'day' job you know) and for the first two days I was on a roll! But then...

Well I didn't have any children these past few days but I did have something which has taken up a lot of my time and caused quite a lot of stress.
So yeah, a minor little life event which has put my life on hold for a few days. If there is anything I've learned it is that if I EVER have kids, so help me God I will do everything and anything in my power to keep them from becoming teenagers! (Ok I know that is inevitable, but my kids sure as he'll won't be stupid shits who would do something like this and if they do: Hello Military Boarding School!) 

But moving on! I've put this nightmare behind me and ready to get on with my life. So I thought I would entertain you with what I was working on right before I became a total Prom buzzkill. 

Abney Park is Tim Burton-esque wonderland (without the horrible CGI and dancing Johnny Dep) hidden in the middle of Stoke Newington. Stepping through the cemetery's front gates is like walking through the cupboard into Narnia. It is a Victorian cemetery which has become completely overgrown, giving it a very haunting fantasy aura. Walking through the many narrow paths one easily forgets they are in Zone 2 as the jungly nature blocks mute out the noise of the streets nearby. It is a haven for local birds including a couple families of Owls. The usual crowd one can find here is romantic wanderers, bougie dog walkers, homeless druggies and drunks with the occasional hipster strolling through snapping up photos with their iphone for instagram. (Disclaimer, I may or may not have walked through Abney Park with my iphone instagramming) 

In the middle Abney Park is an abandoned chapel, or at least the shell of one. The chapel's internal organs (hah!) have been burnt out and salvaged and one can peer inside through a rusty metal gate over the front entrance. I decided this magnificent artefact would be the feature of my drawing. I have a feeling I might return to Abney Park soon to do some more drawing, it is hard to capture the colossal wonder and magic of this sacred place. 

Abney Park Chapel. Not the castle from Beauty and the Beast! 

Day 2: Ode to the Palm 2 (and why Tesco sucks)

The Palm 2.
Where do I even begin?

The Palm 2 drawn from Clapton Pond

The Palm 2 is Hackney legend. A large off license supermarket adjacent from Clapton Pond which has been serving the peoples of Hackney for over 20 years and is still thriving despite the evil TESCO moving in next door a few years ago. My friend Casey use to call the Palm 2 the "Magic Shop" because you could always find the most wonderful and unexpected items on its shelves. 

Trust me, the Palm 2 is way more than just a grocers. You can get your cup of Fair Trade Coffee from Hackney based Climpson&Sons, your daily bread fresh from E5 Bakery, Craft Beers, exotic produce, fresh seafood and a buffet of fresh baked in house turkish food for take away, except Fridays when its homemade gourmet pizza on the take away menu. Even today I went and got a bag of fresh apricots for 54p and Roast Lamb already cooked to take away for £3.50. ROAST LAMB PEOPLE! In the summer they host block party BBQs featuring live local musicians. When did your TESCO EXPRESS last do that? 

I pop into this shop at least once a day. I am a devoted and loyal customer. When I was looking to buy my flat I originally made an offer on a place that was a 10 min walk away from the Palm 2. However, a week later a place came on the market that was only a 1 min walk away and I ended up removing my offer on the first place so I could pay more money to move closer to the Palm 2. That's how much of a worshipper I am of the Palm 2. 

Plus the people who work at the Palm 2 are equally committed to their customers. Looking for something the Palm 2 doesn't sell? Write it down on their request list and they will get it for you! Have a regular coffee order? They will have it ready and prepared the way you like it daily (suck it starbucks) When I was moving I went to the Palm 2 looking for boxes to pack my stuff in. They refused to give them to me on the basis that I wasn't allowed to leave them (When I explained I was just moving down the street and so they were happy to give me all the boxes I needed though).  

In addition to my pencil sketch (see above) I went into the shop and interviewed three of the Palm 2's employees. People I see everyday, who have had the unfortunate pleasure of seeing me walk in the shop in my PJ's barely awake looking for some breakfast or toilette paper on a semi regular basis. It's weird, I probably see the folks who work at the Palm 2 more than my family or closets friends but yet I know so little about them. 

Well that all changed today, so please enjoy my interviews complimented by sketches of three of the Palm 2's finest employees! 

(I didn't tape record the interviews so I am paraphrasing all the answers, apologies) 

Abdullah Solak. Owner and Founder of Palm 2. All Hail! 

Name: Abdullah Solak 

Number of years at the Palm 2: 22. I use to be a shoe maker in a shop on Homerton High Street. In this building (the Palm 2) there was a ladies clothing manufacturers. I came to visit and got to know the owner, he was from Cyprus. I spoke a little a Greek. I noticed there was a big empty space in the back (where the kitchen and deli is now) since there use to be a chemist there who had just moved out (the chemist moved across the street and is still in business btw). I asked the owner, a Jewish man, if I could hire the space. He asked me what I was going to do with it, "it better not be a gambling club!" he said. So I told I would sell food. Then he said 'Ok!' If I told him I was going to open a gambling club he probably wouldn't have let it to me. So I opened the shop and 6 months later my brother came to join me and I got more confident in the business. My brother and I still run the shop today. 

Best thing about working at the Palm 2: So many people from around the world come here. It makes me happy meeting people from so many different cultures. Even amongst my staff we speak 12 languages between us! 

Weirdest Customer (besides me): Too Many! Although once these three men came into the shop to offer us 'protection' for £10,000! Luckily they left and never came back. I think its because we have the Martial Arts studio upstairs! 

Favourite Item in the Shop: All the fresh food! And the pasta with olives and parmesan cheese! 

Favourite Place in Hackney besides the Palm 2: Candella 

Why TESCO sucks: They wanted to buy my shop! I wouldn't sell and they got angry and opened up right next door. It makes me so angry! 

Soleyman Solak. Nephew of Abdullah. Always Smiling. 

Name: Soleyman Solak 

Number of years working at the Palm 2: 10 years

Best thing about working at the Palm 2: The environment is very friendly, it makes me happy to work here. 

Weirdest customer (besides me): People come in trying to scam us by asking for change and trying to confuse us with the amount they give us. Also Halloween people come dressed up in all sorts of costumes. Once a guy came in dressed like a cock (rooster)! 

Favourite Item in the Shop: The Alcohol selection! 

Favourite Place in Hackney besides the Palm 2: The Clapton Hart is cool. 

Why TESCO sucks: Because they are bullies and capitalist trying to kill small businesses around here. 

Ania

Name: Ania

Years working at the Palm 2: 3 years nearly. 

Best thing about working at the Palm 2: Its never boring. Lots of people from all countries and cultures, they all shop here. 

Weirdest customer (besides me): Oh so many! I can't list one, ask me again later! 

Favourite item in the shop: Everything. You can get everything here. Even if we don't have it, Abdullah will get it and sell it to you even if he doesn't even make a profit from it. 

Favourite place in Hackney besides the Palm 2: Millfield's Park. I walk there every morning. Its very pretty. 

Why TESCO sucks: They are a big supermarket killing smaller shops. People complain that TESCO is cheaper, but its not true. They have no selection. Its always the same stuff with no customer service. Here (at the Palm 2) you can get so much stuff and the people are always nice. 

Well there you have it folks! So if you haven't figured it out yet: TESCO IS THE WORST. 

If you are ever find yourself staying in Hackney come check out the Palm 2 and fall in love with this special place. They have just started a 'pop up' dinner club at their new restaurant/bar/event space on the floor above the shop. Special guest chefs (including Soleyman!) cooking up specialties and exotic food and hostcooking classes. COOKING CLASSES PEOPLE! Seriously, if I haven't convinced you to ditch TESCO for the Palm 2 then there is something seriously wrong with you. 

More info about events at the Palm 2 can be found here. 

Day 1: It all started at Clapton Pond

July 2008. A Rastafarian cabbie with a mini-van picks me and all the Ikea crap I own up from Sundial Court, Barbican Center Centre. I tell him to take me to Clapton Pond. We leave the Barbican and head to Old Street, soon passing Columbia Rd. I had been to the flower market once before and remember thinking that it was in the middle of nowhere and half expected to see country side meeting the city's edge at every corner. The cabbie asked if I wanted to go via Hackney Central or via Dalston Junction. I tell him "whatever is more scenic". He laughs, "nothing but Kebab and Fried Chicken shops if you ask me!" We drive down Hackney Rd and the cabbie tells me about his dream to go to France one day and go to a nude beach to see "all them glorious naked tittes" declaring "Man, I just love me some big titties!" How nice.

I had been very hesitant to move to Hackney. The original plan was to stay at Sundial Court (A student dormitory) and be one of those Resident Leader Assistant persons or whatever. Living in the Barbican was dull but it was handy for practice and at £50 a week who could complain! Unfortunately I didn't get the gig and my flat mates had already signed a lease without me so I was in a bit of a homeless pickle. One of my teachers however, had asked me if I was interested in letting his place. "Its only 20 mins to the Barbican, you can practice there and has a nice view of a pond" I was told. I Googeled-Eathed the postcode and there it was: Clapton Pond. 

I remember being on an education gig in Popular Poplar (might as well been in a foreign country) and telling people during lunch that I was moving to a place called "Clapton Pond in Lower Clapton".
"Oh, don't move there" they all replied. "That's murder mile, You'll get stabbed there. Its not safe"
Apparently, not too long ago there was a night club on Lower Clapton Road (where the Clapton Hart is now) that had a notorious reputation for, oh, you know, its patrons getting stabbed. The papers dubbed it Murder Mile and even though in 2008 the Hackney crime rate was starting to sink, the name stuck.

Needless to say, since I moved to Hackney in 2008 I have never once been: stabbed, mugged, robbed, raped, burnt alive or spit on. I have always felt safe here. (knock on wood)

Anyways, I thought I would start off by drawing the place I first called home. My lovely Grade 2 listed Georgian one bed apartment viewed from Clapton Pond.
I started with a pencil sketch. I had the frame drawn in my book already. The dimensions are the same as an aluminium  aluminum etching plate I bought for the Etching class I am currently taken at the Prince's Drawing School.

Clapton Pond, Pencil 

The drawing took about 45 mins at which point I decided to take a break. I went back to my flat, did some practice, watch some shit on YouTube and then went back to Clapton Pond to paint this monstrosity:

Clapton Pond, Watercolour . Yikes.

Eh, ok, to be fair its not the worse thing I have ever drawn. Watercolour is hard. I need more practice with it, I know. Pencil is by far my strongest because with all the travel I do its the medium that is easiest to carry around, so therefore it is the medium I am most familiar with.

It was real stormy and grey during the hour I painted. The sky switched back and forth from a deep and heavy lead like colour to a perfect blue sky with cotton ball clouds. I started the painting when it was quite dark and had already made the house a deep brown when the sun came out and kissed the house and the trees with its farewell golden rays. It was really stunning. No really, here is a photo to prove it: 

A photo of the light I was trying but failed to capture. 

So yeah. The photo makes my painting look like a hot mess. I tried to lighten up the building and the trees with some white acrylic but it was too late, it just made everything messier and out of control. Lesson learned.

Edward Hopper (my favourite artist) once said that all he wanted to do was to capture light on the side of a house. If only he were here this evening.

Hackney is My Home

Hackney. London's butterfly borough. Transforming itself from 'Murder Mile' to The Coolest Place in the World almost overnight thanks to a little summer get together not too long ago called the 2012 London Olympics.

So how did a girl like me from the Stepford Wives suburbia of Connecticut end up here?

Well, it started in 2008. Long story short: I needed a place to live, one of my teachers needed a tenant,  we made a deal, papers were signed, badda big badda boom: Hello Hackney!

Since then, Hackney has been the place that is not America that I call home. I live abroad but I do not live in England nor I do not live in London, I live in Hackney. VERY big difference between the three if you ask me.

The reason I started this blog is because Hackney won't be my home for much longer. Apparently, being a property owner, self-employed, business creating, tax paying, Two UK University degree holding, native English speaking and overall decent person isn't a good enough reason for me to be a member of British society. The Damn Visa is Expiring in October 2014 and I don't qualify to renew it. Curse you Teresa May! Boo! You Whore! (Shakes fist angrily in the air)

I have been studying art kinda part time on and off for about 3 years now and so its about time I do something with my budding art skillz than just posting my drawings of naked people from my orgies life drawing classes.

Drawing on location is something I have always enjoyed and since I can't be arsed to travel into Central London to sketch all the tourist bits I've decided to make the most of what I've got my own backyard.

And I love Hackney. Dearly. I always feel closer with a place when I spend some time sitting down and drawing it. A very intimate mini love affair. So, Hackney, its time to get it on and git 'er done!